Public Funding for C-Tech Innovation Limited

Single step manufacturing of high added value, lighweight, low cost hybrid composite structures using locally sourced Alternative Raw Materials, novel organic/inorganic binder technology and new high output low energy process technology. These new materials and processes will replace high embodied energy materials and processes and at the same time significantly increase functional performance, reduce costs of manufacture and final product carbon footprint.

Commercial power generation plants are between 40% and 45% efficient, when comparing the electrical power output to the energy value of the fuel input. The "missing" energy is routinely released to atmosphere via cooling towers or by heat transfer to seawater, as the working fluid (water) is condensed for recycling back into the primary power generation system. Initial research at Lancaster University in 2010, funded by the TSB, showed the Latent Power Turbine (LPT) concept can harness a proportion of the wasted energy. This project is designed to demonstrate the potential commercial viability of the LPT concept, in a larger-scale experimental programme.

"This project is the result of two separate streams of work being undertaken for purposes at C-Tech Innovation and fits the company strategy for the development of products that will fit the requirements of industry to be flexible, efficient and low carbon. Flexibility is essential in allowing manufacturers operate with fluctuating energy costs that the future renewable energy infrastructure will bring. Nitrogen fixation is a huge industry globally but reliant of large plant expensive reactors and huge natural gas reserves. The development of low cost modular process plant powered by low carbon electricity will provide and alternative route to the manufacture of these vital commodity products. C-Tech will look to develop disruptive technologies that will allow the localised manufacture and use of fertilizer products based on the 40 years of experience in the development of integrated efficient processes."

‘C-Flow PLT’ is a new design of electrochemical cell and plant, offering much higher capacities – 4x flow rates - than are possible with current stack designs. It is a modular pilot plant offering a step change in flexibility and reduced development costs for use by academic and industrial R&D users. Current designs are stack systems with multiple adjacent cells in an arrangement similar to a heat exchanger or filter press. There is an inherent constriction to the flow of electrolyte into and out of each cell in this design. This means that increasing flow rates lead to high pressure drops across the equipment and capacity is limited: capital costs are high. We will prove our concept of a very high flow rate electrochemical plant by designing and building a four cell system including test rig, and balance of plant, with a target linear flow velocity of 1ms-1 across the electrodes, corresponding to 75 litres/min of both anolyte and catholyte per cell. The flow rate is four times that of comparable current cell designs and is a step change increase in the operational capacity of electrochemical pilot plant, approaching production scale volumes but with a much smaller footprint and an order of magnitude difference in cost. The design is modular – each cell is contained in its own cassette. This allows flexibility of operation. Individual cells can be switched in and out of operation for maintenance with drybreak couplings and with no disturbance to other cells. It also allows easy scale up and addition of capacity. This project will prove the concept with a four cell system and test rig, designed for 300 litre/minute operation of both anolyte and catholyte and 4000Am-2 current capacity. The unit will be evaluated on three different chemical systems, demonstrating the usefulness for treatment of dilute systems (e.g. waste water), viscous chemical synthesis requiring high turbidity (and therefore flow rate), and synthesis requiring high volumetric flows.

This project proposes to develop the use of Ohmic (OH) and radio frequency (RF) heating for the continuous production of cooked ham, chicken and turkey meat to be either subsequently sliced to make sandwich filling or packed as joints/logs. These cooking methods are both direct volumetric heating technologies which deliver energy very efficiently. OH efficiently pre-congeals and sets the meat while RF delivers the final heating step as energy efficiently as possible. The new production process will offer significant advantages which will be piloted in a factory in the project: -Continuous processing, with meat product cooked in-line/ in-pipe. Significant production and labour savings. -Significantly faster cooking with lower energy use with equivalent microbial inactivation. Energy cost savings. -Very rapid thermally controllable, rapid start up and high production flexibility, good suitability for factory use. Combining the two emerging technologies will enable them to complement each other overcoming some limitations with each and will realise a very efficient and marketable new process.

Thanks to an innovative electrochemical device, this project will add value to organic materials dissolved in waste-water streams by generating electricity upon their electrochemical oxidation in a low cost but high power fuel cell (15 mW/cm2). Large amounts of waste water contaminated with sugars and other high energy organic molecules are currently generated as a result of the industrial activity in sectors including food manufacturers, beverage production, breweries, wineries or biofuel generators. These water streams represent an increasing problem for those industries as expensive and slow water cleaning procedures are mandatory prior to municipal disposal. The system here proposed enables significant carbon dioxide savings and a dramatic drop the energy requirements for water remediation and related costs. Alternative technologies are capital intensive with low electrical generation efficiency (anerobic digestion) or uneconomic (microbiological fuel cells with a power density of less than 2 mW/cm2). Unlike many renewable energy sources, this fuel cell provides continuous and clean electricity generation to support the grid and provide peak shaving.

The ImBioED project seeks to deliver improved economics for the production and isolation of amino acids without the need for extensive plant modifications. We intend to achieve this through the integration of biocatalysis and electrodialysis (ED) technologies. Biocatalytic processes are frequentlyimpeded by enzyme inhibition, which severely limits the scope for improving the volume efficiency of such processes. Building on promising results generated from a previous funded Innovate UK feasibility project we intend to utilise ED to remove inhibitory by-products from biotransformation processes, enabling us to achieve significantly improved levels of product accumulation.

Radio Frequency (RF) is currently used by a small number of companies to help remove water from products post-baking. The principle objective of RF-ProBake is to introduce innovation by demonstrating the application of RF during both proving and baking stages of production as a way of increasing baking efficiency and reducing product waste. Baking consumes 35-40% of a plant bakery’s energy requirements, with proving consuming another 5% of the energy costs, therefore the potential savings could be large. Bread products will be the focus of this project due to the large reductions in energy and waste that are achievable, however laminated pastries will also be investigated. RF-Probake will lead to process and product innovation, adding value to existing processes while creating new products through the different energy delivery mechanisms.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

The principal objective of InterCityAir is to develop and test the feasibility of an outdoor air quality (AQ) sensing unit that could be linked to a city's traffic management system to improve flow and thereby reduce pollution hot-spots from queuing traffic. The InterCityAir project will develop, build and test the AQ sensing system against current monitoring standards and equipment. Protocols to integrate the AQ data with Chester city's Siemens STRATOS traffic management system will be established and trialled.The InterCityAir sensing units will be scalable to a city-wide network of AQ sensors to implement this integrated data platform across Chester, strengthen the local air quality management and improve citizen health by reducing air pollution build-up. The InterCityAir project will ensure the AQ data accesible is made accessible to a wider group of stakeholders as well as the public. The sensor network proposed will be scalable to ultimately provide higher resolution air quality data for the Chester area.

Improving product quality of bread products through the 'food to go' chill chain by managing moisture migration to deliver optimum texture and eat quality.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

The principle objectives of the In-pack Ohmic heating project are to confirm the effectiveness of pasteurising / sterilising food products in-pack, using Ohmic heating techniques, to achieve enhanced food quality and safety from this rapid, gentle heating technique, and to confirm that the concept would be capable of scale-up to an industrial context.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

This project aims to develop a novel and integrated approach to food manufacturing and processing using techniques developed by three of the collaborative partners. A Pulsed Electric Field process integrated with a novel patent pending low temperature pasteurisation process offers 10-fold reductions in energy usage compared to flash, tunnel and UHT processes. Pasteurisation is an essential process stage in Dairy, Juices and Brewery processing. Although conventional pasteurisation are effective in extending food, dairy and beverages product shelf-life in some cases high temperature processing is undesirable due to product tainting, protein, nutrient denaturing and changes in taste. Dairy processors and Animal Feed manufacturers are also keen to develop solutions to reduce waste from processing and develop new high value products and alternative sources of high value ingredients. This project aims to offer a new integrated process to efficiently and effectively pasteurise Dairy coproducts and subsequently generating higher value products and functional ingredients whilst significantly reducing energy usage, reducing waste and improving processing times.

Electronics systems require the reliable attachment of large numbers of components on a printed circuit board. This is achieved using advanced soldering techniques to connect components to each other and to enable the device to function according to its design. Therefore, the quality and reliability of the solder joints is extremely important. Demands for increased electronic performance and reduced size have resulted in less area being available to connect components to the circuit board, so producing reliable joints has become a challenge. To achieve good solder joint reliability, a solderable coating is used on the circuit board, which also influences joint reliability. A new solderable coating, the subject of this project, uses nickel, palladium and gold (ENEPIG) based on the use of novel ionic liquids, which enable metal coatings to be deposited with markedly improved properties thereby ensuring long term electronic systems reliability, especially for those products used in harsh and challenging environments. The project will thus produce a new solderable coating that provides enhanced reliability and functionality to a wide range of electronic products, including several addressed in this call.

Fluorine is an industrially important and widely used chemical element. It is derived almost solely from the mineral fluorspar, supplies of which are becoming scarce, to the extent that this mineral has been identified as one of 14 "critical" raw materials by the European Commission. In order to reduce consumption and reliance on supplies of this valuable mineral resource, Victrex plc, C-Tech Innovation Ltd and Urenco Chemplants Ltd have come together on this project to develop an electrochemical technology which has the potential to be used to recycle 90% of the fluorine which currently ends up as aqueous effluent. In addition to recovering fluorine, the process also generates water and dilute sodium hydroxide as by-products, both of which can be recycled, thus further reducing reliance on natural resources. As well as the obvious environmental benefits associated with developing such a process, there are also significant economic benefits envisaged, ensuring that jobs are safeguarded and that UK manufacturing remains competitive in a Global arena.

This project seeks to disrupt the existing life-cycle of medium density fibreboard. It will develop a technology that will be capable of recovering high value wood fibres from a waste stream that is still often landfilled or incinerated. It will pursue a closed loop agenda, making available industrial products made from the recovered fibres. The impacts along the supply chain will be evaluated and mapped with new systems designed for the recovery, segregation and utilisation of these products and processes.

The purpose of the EDAM project is to test the feasibility of combining two well established technologies in order to develop an innovative process for the production and isolation of amino acids. Biocatalysis is a well established technology in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, allowing the conversion of an amino acid precursor into a target amino acid using 1 or 2 enzymes. Electrodialysis membranes have been used for many years in the water purification industry, however wider applications of this technology remain under utilised. We propose to utilise a two enzyme reaction system to facilitate the production of amino acids. Subsequent application of a direct current electric field to the reaction mixture will then lead to electromigration of the charged amino acid species across an ion exchange membrane and product purification.

EA Technology, C-Tech Innovation and Versarien are three UK SMEs who have come together with the support of funding from the Technology Strategy Board to develop the next generation of technology for Air Source Heat Pumps for domestic application Air Source Heat Pumps show considerable promise but there is scope for further improvement. The project team has extensive experience in the design and performance evaluation of heat pumps and also brings insight into new and more efficient thermodynamic cycles and components for heat pump systems. The project team will take an existing design of air-source heat pump and modify it in order to increase its efficiency, especially for providing domestic hot water. The team will also design new heat exchanger and radiator components for the system to maximise its performance. The prototype system will be assembled and tested in a laboratory before being evaluated in a test house under realistic conditions. The project will run for 12 months and feature various dissemination activites for anyone interested to learn more.

LP Turbines operate according to a novel thermodynamic cycle supported by mathematical modelling and research evidence from Lancaster University. LP Turbines can generate electricity by extracting heat from their environment; even if the environment is at or BELOW room temperature. They can do this because LP Turbines are small "canned wind turbines”, not conventional heat engines. They generate electricity by extracting kinetic energy (KE) from air circulating inside a hollow metal ring. The KE is locally amplified by placing the turbine inside a Venturi constriction in the ring. Replacement heat is then added through the metal walls of the ring. UK companies have expressed interest in using LP Turbines for a wide range of different low grade heat recycling purposes, including: (i) Replacing cooling towers with LP Turbines to harness waste heat currently dumped into the atmosphere, (ii) Cooling London Underground tube stations and (iii) recycling waste heat produced by industrial food production.

The primary objective of the ALPCAR project is to scale up an Aluminium Plating process, based on a promising new generation of Ionic Liquids and develop a process demonstrator for an Al plating line using these new electrolytes. To date all existing Al coating technologies have either suffered from major technical limitations and/or been very expensive. The primary market being targeted within the proposed project is a replacement for Cadmium within the aerospace industry.

The STOWURC project is aimed at developing sustainable materials and processes that use waste products from the seafood industry to treat effluent and recover metals from the printed circuit board (PCB) and related industries. The UK PCB industry is strategically important to the country but its chemical processes can generate waste products that are expensive to treat. The shells of crabs and other crustaceans are a source of materials known as chitosans which can absorb metals. They thus have the ability to recover the metals that are found in PCB manufacturing effluent. The UK's seafood industry generates large volumes of shellfish waste and the project is using this waste to produce chitosan-based materials that can sustainably treat the effluent produced by PCB makers and companies producing similar types of metal bearing waste products. The project partners have identified international interest in using chitosan-based materials from PCB manufacturers and there are also much larger applications in other sectors, including surface engineering. Crab shells are typically expensive to dispose of and this project will enable them to become valuable raw materials.

Energy and water efficient continuous sterilisation of ABP from food wastes for AD based energy and material recovery C-TECH INNOVATION will develop an innovative and efficient sterilisation system incorporating high temperature ohmic heating technology to allow the safe, low energy processing of animal by product (ABP). Ohmic heating is a volumetric heating technology which can effectively process almost any pumpable fluid with extremely high energy efficiency (>95%). This technology will provide an improved method for the pre-treatment of materials entering AD systems by • reducing the requirement for water addition • improved energy efficiency in sterilisation • robust non fouling operation • continuous flow operation with effective microbial kill throughout the material Secondary benefits through integration into an AD system • increased energy recovery through onsite AD biogas production • safe recovery of materials for use in fertilizers (digestate) Disposal of animal by-products (ABP) is a challenge that exists at hundreds of locations in the UK. Around 50% by weight of all animals entering abattoirs is removed from the food chain and is classified as Animal by Product (ABP). Depending on the risk to human health this waste is classified as; very high risk (catergory 1), high risk (category 2) or intermediate risk (category 3). The current ABP regulations (APBR) stipulate recommended treatment times and temperatures for the classes of material, however Regulation 208/2006 allows for alternative methods of treatment for ABPs if a specified level of reduction in specific pathogenic organisms is achieved. The efficient sterilisation will be the key enabling technology for an economically viable recovery process as current methods are energy intensive and difficult to implement. The innovative sterilisation strategies used will also provide a preliminary hydrolysis of feedstock which will enhance and speed up digestion in the subsequent stages.

Redox Flow Batteries (RFB) can be used to store large quantities of grid-scale electrical energy. RFB's present certain advantages over other energy storage devices, such as decoupling power from energy, long life, very fast response, potentially modular and mobile, and low environmental impact, making them suitable for applications where energy storage is necessary to balance electricity generation with consumer demand. This may prove especially useful in modern cities, where transport and infrastructure will rely increasingly on reliable power supplies, and where increasing Renewable Energy penetration is likely to suffer from intermittent and unpredictable supply. The main objectives of this project are: • To assess the technical feasibility and potential of implementing RFB's, or more specifically, Vanadium Redox Batteries VRB), in urban electricity networks, as energy storage devices for balancing purposes. Battery power and energy capacity considerations will be examined, as well as key components necessary to implement the technology, as well as a comparison with other storage battery technologies. • An analysis will be performed, to identify the potential costs and benefits of implementing RFB's in the electricity networks of cities, as compared to other technologies.

The UK bakery industry is a major energy using sector, currently consuming in excess of of 2,000 GWhr of per year - equivalent to emissions of about 570,000 tonnes of CO2 annually – in producing around 4 billion bakery products each year. INNOVBAKE is a TSB part-funded collaborative research project which brings together six partners (C-Tech Innovation, Campden BRI and bakers Jacksons Bakery, Greggs, Allied Bakeries and Frank Roberts) with the aim of reducing the energy consumption of the UK bakery industry. The INNOVBAKE project aims to develop an innovative low-energy baking system based on a two-step process consisting of an accelerated conventional baking stage followed by a novel post-baking cooling step. This reduction in baking time alone, could reduce the overall energy consumption of the sector by as much as 20% - a saving of more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.

This project brings together two UK SMEs that are world leaders in PI, process design and small footprint reactor technologies to deliver significantly improved economics in existing and new chemical manufacturing processes. Speciality and fine chemicals sectors are of major significance, providing ‘high-value, knowledge-intensive goods'. The consortium will focus on high pressure biotransformations enabling the production of high quality product in a reduced time frame. The application of integrated process and reactor design will reduce the timescale and the technical risks currently experienced in adapting existing bioprocesses to new targets and in transferring laboratory or pilot scale reactions to full scale manufacturing processes. HiBioPro will prove the advantages of the innovative reactor design and detail the process improvements for the industry sectors.

The RE-Fab project is a building design concept which will allow the efficient construction of houses using sustainable regionally manufactured components. These houses will be efficient in use, adaptable through life, and to a range of styles including the differing building styles exhibited in different geographical areas. In addition they are designed for de-construction and re-use at end of life, allowing a range of ownership and cost options, and reducing future resource use by the building industry.

Large amounts of infrastructure from the UK civil nuclear programme are to be decommissioned over the next 50+ years. During the decommissioning process it is often desirable to remove surface contamination in order to reduce hazard to workers and simplify further processing operations (e.g. providing man access for cutting and size reduction operations). Wet decontamination procedures are commonly employed for this purpose, which generate large volumes of liquid effluent. Management and disposal of effluent is a limiting factor in deployment of wet decontamination processes. This project looks to develop an existing electrochemical technology, in an innovative way, to manage the effluent at source to permit the use of the most effective decontamination solutions. The use of such reagents will speed up decommissioning and reduce decommissioning costs.

The project is a Proof of Market study for a generic new process technology for the recycling of Nickel metal from end-of-life secondary (rechargeable) batteries. Nickel is a high value metal of key strategic industrial importance. In the waste sources being targeted, it is present as Ni salts in a mixture with other metals and materials from which it must be separated to recover high purity, valuable Ni metal or Ni metal salts. The primary target is to recover the metal from used Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries. Cobalt and lanthanides (rare earths) are further critical strategic metals to be recovered from this source. Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries are an additional source of waste Ni, where its complete separation from toxic Cd is essential. The proposed process is novel and no similar processes have been implemented industrially for this application. The study will provide key supply chain and economic data and will enable quantification of commercial and environmental advantages over existing techniques, in terms of greater extraction selectivity and therefore higher value recovered products, lower energy consumption and cleaner processing using less environmentally harmful chemicals and requiring less transport (localised operation), leading to reductions in effluents and harmful emissions. The study will assess the commercial viability of the process within the supply chains for endof- life battery collection and Ni recycling, aiming to quantify perceived market opportunities and identify further potential applications within battery recycling. The project outputs will establish a basis for further market development, IP protection and routes to process commercialisation.

The company proposes to develop an Atmospheric Pressure Non Equilibrium Plasma (APNEP) system to decontaminate & sterilize a range of dried food ingredients, including nuts, grains and dried fruit. The company intends to put in place the technical & engineering capabilities to apply the APNEP system to a range of food processing & manufacturing processes. The innovative use of APNEP to sterilize & decontaminate foodstuffs expects that the inactivation of microorganisms &/or destruction of mycotoxins occurs without the use of dangerous or toxic substances, whilst not adversely affecting organoleptic properties of the food. Microbiological procedures & their interpretation will be developed to assess the effectiveness of the process. Mycotoxin destruction shall be determined using immunoassay techniques. Experimentation will evaluate the effectiveness of the system in destroying microorganisms.

The latest technical advancements in automotive seat and mattress construction will be integrated with new technology originally developed for the rapid disassembly of clothing to enable the development of new technology for the implementation of a new production process for the large-scale recovery and reuse of valuable industrial raw materials at the end of life. The project brings together technical expertise in four different industrial field of manufacture (production of automotive components, textile engineering, metal processing (springs) and industrial recycling processes). The project will develop new automated disassembly technology and processes that will assist the automotive industry and mattress producers to significantly enhance their competitiveness, resource efficiency and reduce their environmental and societal burdens.

A novel process for electropolishing aerospace castings using ionic liquids is being developed. Specifically this project is exploring the application of novel liquids for electrochemical removal of silicate and metal containing scale from turbine blade castings and seeking to understand how scale forms during solidification on single crystal turbine blade castings. Conventional electropolishing in aqueous electrolytes requires a cocktail of strong inorganic acids that are toxic. Current technology involves manual machining of each intricate piece and is both time and labour intensive. In contrast, the Leicester Ionic Liquids group has shown that ionic liquid electrolytes are effective alternatives to aqueous acids in electropolishing stainless steels and Ni / Co alloys. These liquids are much easier to work with, less toxic, contain no strong acids and operate at much higher energy efficiency. These components are widely available, inexpensive & require no additional registration for commercial use.

The demand for high-performance metals, so-called Superalloys, is increasing by approximately 10-15% per annum. Their excellent mechanical strength and corrosion resistance at high temperatures give them a range of applications in the aviation (e.g. turbine blades) and oil and gas sectors. Superalloys are difficult and expensive to recycle once scrapped. Key metals Rhenium, Tantalum, Cobalt and Tungsten represent over 25% by weight of the alloy. Of these high value metals, the latter three are considered by the EU as "Critical Raw Materials", with Rhenium being close to "Critical". Even Nickel, which composes 60% of the Superalloys, is a key strategic metal since substitution in many cases is impractical, with numerous applications in technologies to tackle climate change, for instance for its corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. Current practices for recycling these key elements from turbine blades involves either Pyrometallurgical processing in large smelting plants, or Hydrometallurgical methods in strong acid mixtures. The former expends large amounts of energy, and while the latter is preferred on a local or national scale because of its lower environmental impact and capital investment required, but still suffers from certain disadvantages (e.g. environmental effects from acids, precipitates, sludge's to landfill). To date there are no UK operations of either kind in the UK, and the vast majority of scrap Superalloy materials are transported to Germany, Holland or USA for hydrometallurgical recycling. It is proposed to use specific types of novel ionic liquid to selectively extract and recover the valuable metals at a recycling efficiency at least equivalent to those using current techniques. The process has been proven to extract metals from surface finishing filter cake and battery waste, and the technology will be used here to treat turbine blade waste, which represents a market of approximately 3000-4000 tonnes per annum globally. Scrap from manufacturing will add substantially to this. Aviation turbine blades contain approximately 25% wt of metals classified by the EU as "Critical" or near-to critical (Co, Ta, W, Re), and 60% Nickel, which as well as Co, Ta, and Re, is classed by The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s Strategically Important Metals report (2011) as of "Strategic Importance". Approximately 30% of the global demand for turbine blades is supplied from secondary sources, with the UK providing none of the current recycling activities. The proposed technology uses traditional hydrometallurgical equipment, and the process operates at close to ambient temperature using low cost, non-toxic ionic liquids that are 100% recyclable. Significant energy savings and reductions in CO2 emissions in comparison to current hydrometallurgical methods are anticipated, and the process will contribute towards resource efficiency and sustainable recycling because of its extremely low secondary waste production. Furthermore, since the UK is a major consumer of these Superalloys, the technology will provide UK industry with oppoprtunites to take maximum value from the waste stream and close the loop on these valuable resources.

PLACATE is a highly focussed feasibility/concept study that has the objective of adapting a MW-plasma generator to create highly reactive plasma at high pressure. The main aim of the project is to define the engineering requirements of the plasma generator and to determine the operating limits (gas flows, pressure and power). The developed equipment will be used to carry out some basic catalytic studies demonstrating the potential of the technology to enhance gas phase catalytic reactions at increased pressure. The technology will allow activation of inert raw materials such as methane and carbon dioxide at lower temperatures and pressures than are currently required. This approach will provide a technology platform to use these difficult to process materials as feedstock for the production of more useful chemicals and intermediates.

Large amounts of infrastructure from the UK civil nuclear programme are to be decommissioned over the next 50+ years. During the decommissioning process it is often desirable to remove surface contamination in order to reduce hazard and simplify further processing operations (e.g. providing man access for cutting and size reduction operations). Wet decontamination procedures and wash outs are commonly employed for this purpose, which generate large volumes of liquid effluent. Management and disposal of effluent is often a limiting factor in deployment of wet decontamination processes. This project looks to develop an existing technology, electrochemical oxidation, to manage the effluent at source to permit either re-use or disposal of decontamination solutions. Electrochemical oxidation will be used to effectively remove those components which often interfere with downstream treatment of spent decontamination effluents. This process opens up the potential to treat isolated plant and removes reliance on centralised infrastructure hence accelerating decommissioning timescales. The proposal also opens the opportunity to employ more effective decontamination reagents that may otherwise be discounted due to issues with downstream processing though the electrochemical removal of problematic components.

MiFlow will develop a novel microwave assisted flow reactor to allow scale-up of reactions with minimum process development and giving significant energy savings. The reactor concept will be proved by testing with novel ionic liquid reactions tailored from a range of end-user specific processes.

The AlkH2 project aims to deliver a step change in the uptake of ultra-low carbon, green-hydrogen production achieved through technology breakthroughs in new low cost materials and manufacturing processes. Non-precious metal catalysts and highly durable alkaline polymer membranes developed by C-Tech Innovation and Newcell Technologies will provide the technological means for hydrogen production, while RE Hydrogen will design and build electrolysers using advanced manufacturing processes, at substantially lower cost than current market products. The technology developed within the project will result in a 5kW being demonstrated in a grid balancing services field trial with project partner Flexitricity. Furthermore, the key to the success of these demonstrations will be in their integration with renewable power generation, which shall be provided by Juwi Renewable Energies in the form of solar PV. Strategic partnerships will be developed towards commercial exploitation through global distribution channels with products targeting renewable hydrogen production and new applications for energy storage.

The PROPRESS programme is aiming to deliver significant cost savings in the production of solar-cell electrodes. Currently silver is predominantly used as an electrode material due to its high conductivity and excellent chemical compatibility. However, silver has increased in cost significantly over recent years increasing the drive to find more economic alternatives whilst retaining cell lifetime and performance. The programme aims to deliver an integrated innovative electrode structure using alternative nano ink technologies. These nanoinks combined with novel curing and fast printing processes, will offer significant cost reductions, but will also increase cell life and increase efficiency. The aim will be to develop these inks with an experimental demonstrator showing increased performance over conventional electrode structures. The consortium consists of distinguished specialist partners – Narec Solar and C-Tech Innovation Ltd., with Intrinsiq Materials leading the programme and providing their novel nanoink and particle sintering expertise.

The concept of ‘green chemistry’ to promote chemical technologies that reduce the generation of hazardous substances is increasingly relevant within the UK chemical industry. The current trend is towards the bio-based production of chemicals and the potential of industrial biotechnology to provide the process tools to achieve this. This project will integrate all phases of bioprocess development from catalyst production, to process design, through to highly efficient small footprint manufacture of high value products with a focus on the application of high pressure systems in biotechnology to produce high value chiral intermediates. BioPress will demonstrate the flexibility of a high pressure reactor on a lab scale and on a pilot production scale. The advantages of a pressurised system are seen with the increased efficiency of gas transfer to the reaction medium. Adoption of efficient bio-processes and improved process design will be key to the future success of these sectors. This project brings together three UK SMEs that are world leaders in biocatalysis, process design and small footprint reactor technologies to deliver significantly improved economics in existing and new chemical manufacturing processes. Speciality and fine chemicals sectors are of major significance, providing ‘high-value, knowledge-intensive goods'. The consortium will focus on the introduction of high pressure biotransformations enabling the production of high quality product in a reduced time frame. The application of integrated process and reactor design will reduce the timescale and the technical risks currently experienced in adapting existing bioprocesses to new targets and in transferring laboratory or pilot scale reactions to full scale manufacturing processes. BioPress will prove the advantages of the innovative reactor design and detail the process improvements for the industry sectors.

This project addresses a key challenge within the composites sector which is a lack of rapid, low cost and scalable processes to provide composite components with high mechanical properties. The key aim is to evaluate Radio Frequency (RF) curing of composites and demonstrate that this approach can provide a low cost, energy efficient, rapid and scalable process for production of high quality composite components. RF is a volumetric and uniform heating mechanism which is expected to be capable of rapidly curing composite parts including large or thick parts which may be challenging by other methods. Research will also encompass design and development of tooling for use in the RF system. Tooling will be developed using low cost RF transparent materials and will incorporate functionality to aid product surface finish and heating uniformity. This approach is expected to provide tooling at approx 20% of the cost of current systems. Modelling techniques will be used to develop a robust tool for rapid and effective design of future tooling systems. RF curing of composites is both novel and highly innovative. The RF press system to be developed will combine the pressure capability needed to give effective cure with suitability for rapid processing. Tooling design is an integral part of this system as, through materials selection and enhanced functionality, it will ensure both heating uniformity and energy efficiency. Key outputs of the work will be a RF demonstrator system (including tooling) which can effectively produce industrially relevant composite components for evaluation. The significant reductions in energy usage and processing time expected to be achieved with this technology should make it highly desirable to composites manufacturers who stand to derive significant cost savings by technology adoption.

Emissions control on vehicles is becoming more tightly regulated throughout the world to improve the environmental performance. Within Europe, emissions of Nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, Carbon monoxide and particulate matter are controlled and tighter emissions limits are set to come into place in 2014 (Euro 6). This step change in the performance requirements coupled with other regulation changes presents a clear commercial need to develop emissions control technologies. CO2 reduction is a key driver in the automotive market fuelled by the twin requirements of reducing CO2 emissions and offering customers reduced fuel consumption in the face of spiralling fuel costs. Work with market leaders has emphasised the need for new technology to address these issues. FAME introduces the use of a pre-combustion device for premixed charge petrol internal combustion engines (RHK1). The device has been designed to reduce vehicle emissions and improve fuel economy by improving the air/fuel mixture quality before fuel injection into the cylinder. The project will further develop the concept trialled in an earlier feasibility study by one of the partners to improve the reductions already gained and help prepare the technology for market. FAME is a 2 year Applied R&D collaborative project between three highly innovative companies and guidance from a world leader in automotive engineering. The consortium includes an end-user partner in the automotive industry.

The public description for this project has been requested but has not yet been received.

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The EXCIL project is focused on recovery of high value components from food processing co-products. Specifically we are interested in the recovery of glycosamino glycans (GAGs) from fish and shellfish byproducts and chitin and polyphenols from brewing waste streams. The key technology being used within the project is ionic liquids. Ionic Liquids (ILs) are innovative solvents which can provide a high level of selectivity in recovering specific components from complex mixtures. ILs can be considered as 'designer solvents' as their properties can be tailored to meet the requirements of a specific process. These solvents are also generally low toxicity and have no vapour pressure; they are often considered as green alternatives to traditional organic solvents. Key objectives of this project are to develop extraction methods for target components and obtain samples of extracted materials to evaluate their properties in nutritional or cosmetic applications. Processes developed will also be up-scaled during the project and the environmental and economic viability demonstrated through a robust LCA and techno-economic assesment.

Three UK technology companies, C-Tech Innovation, Ingenza and AM Technology have collaborated in the BIOCHEMIST project to develop new flow process techniques for bio manufacturing. The project integrated all aspects of bioprocess development from enzyme discovery and catalyst engineering, to process design, through to small footprint manufacturing of high value products. The CofloreTM Agitated Cell Reactor (ACR) is a dynamically mixed plug flow reactor and Coflore Agitated Tube Reactor (ATR) - an industrial tube flow reactor both developed by AMTech have demonstrated superior mixing and process control in bioprocess development starting from simple lab scale batch processes. The BIOCHEMIST project successfully implemented pug flow principles to chiral chemical manufacturing through benchtop plug flow reactors (ACRs); and on to the multi-litre production scale agitated tube reactor (ATR). A synthetic oxidation reaction developed by Ingenza for the production of chiral amino acid catalysed by a series of novel d-amino acid oxidases (DAAO) has been developed from lab to pilot scale process by C-Tech Innovation under batch and continuous conditions, and illustrates how application of the ACR and ATR reactors can facilitate process development by improved process control; ease of scale up; minimizing of interruptions in production; reducing reactor size; and the efficient and economic use of biocatalysts

Design for Disassembly This novel assembly/disassembly project aims to provide the first practical means to rapidly disassemble an item of clothing in a semi-automated, cost effective way. Initially this approach will enable zips, buttons, fastenings and other "contras" that “contaminate” clothing recyclate to be easily removed prior to processing. This will immediately benefit down cycling applications e.g. mattress, furniture and automotive products Outcomes A new generation of reusable or recyclable corporate wear (and subsequently mainstream clothing) is being developed in which joints (e.g. seams) can be dismantled and logos and emblems removed using new process technology. The potential to disassemble effectively will encourage the future specification of more suitable fabrics and fibres from procurement professionals based on the extendable life cycle of the garments.

RECONIF is a collaborative research project which has developed an innovative approach to the recovery of nickel from waste as exampled by filter cakes, used batteries and other renewable feedstocks. A patented process has been developed which combines the use of novel ionic-liquid based extraction to dissolve nickel from feedstock, in conjunction with integrated electrochemical recovery technology. This innovative development has taken the selective recovery of nickel beyond current chemical and physical-based state-of-the-art solutions. The developed RECONIF process utilises a hydrophobic task-specific ionic liquid exhibiting selective solubility towards metal oxides and hydroxides and which upon subsequent acidification’ with ‘phase switching task specific ionic liquid (TSIL) which enables nickel to be selectively released upon subsequent acidification from which recovery via electrowinning may be effected with the ionic liquid being reused for subsequent extractions.

The aim of this project is to develop an appliance to effectively treat greywater via in situ generation of an environmentally benign and highly effective sterilant solution. Recent advances in technology will be exploited to manufacture the sterilant starting simply from the electrolysis of water, requiring no additional inputs to the system other than electrical energy. This low-cost technology will be incorporated into an integrated greywater system which is equally applicable for domestic and non-domestic usage. In the domestic sector a six star rating under the Code for Sustainable Homes would result. Water savings of between 30 and 60% are estimated in the non-domestic sector. The project combines two major UK companies, with an innovative SME (C-Tech) and a world-leading catalysis research group.

INBOARD is a new and exciting technology for tracking electronics from PCB manufacturing to end of life. This collaborative research and development project involving several key UK electronics companies, a recycler and Loughborough University has demonstrated a new technology that enables information about an electronic product to be stored and accessed all the way from the initial printed circuit board manufacturing stage to end of life and recycling. The Technology Strategy Board supported INBOARD project has developed a novel product and process monitoring system with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) embedded into the Printed Circuit Board. This technology enables relevant information to travel with the product across the whole electronics manufacturing supply chain including printed circuit board manufacturing, assembly, and original equipment manufacturing (OEM), use and end of life /recycling. The RFID tags can be used to monitor and optimise manufacturing processes, track components, locally store life-cycle information and support dismantling and recycling. By using these embedded components, it will be possible to reduce the lifecycle costs of manufactured products radically by increasing observability.

The public description for this project has been requested but has not yet been received.

The UK is the highest consumer of convenience packaging per capita in the world and is experiencing rapid growth in sophisticated packaging. Currently there is intense interest in forms of packaging that have improved environmental credentials and reduced impact after use, whilst maintaining functionality and with minimal increase in price. This project has succeeded in developing a method to produce pulps from sustainable agricultural waste products and has used this pulp to produce moulded products to be used as packaging for food materials The project developed one specific packaging type, to commercial prototype levels, that satisfied required product properties such as strength, flexibility, thickness and water resistance whilst being biodegradable and that performed well in Life Cycle Assessments in comparison to existing competitive materials. The product has achieved good customer feedback to date and demonstrates good potential to be commercially viable. The project has shown the potential for adding value to a waste product whilst also producing a viable packaging material.

This project will deliver breakthrough developments in new, low emission, low energy, environmentally benign routes for the treatment of polymer scrap. By using ''highly tuneable'' ionic liquids, polymer materials will be specifically extracted from appropriate waste across all parts of the supply chain. The project has 3 strands: treatment of post-industrial composite packaging waste; separation of heavy metal additives from recovered PVC; production of polymer powders from separated polymer waste. For each strand, processes and their impact under the ZEE approach will be delivered in exploitable ''technology packages''. By capitalising on these developments, this industry-driven consortium will enable the UK polymer industry to lead in reducing its reliance on key feedstocks, reducing energy consumption by allowing the reuse of materials without their degradation, and in some cases, without harmful additives that may limit their application.

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Inductive & RF measurement technologies use etched or wound components to transmit, receive & process electromagnetic signals. Currently, these components restrict the technology''s scope of application due to their limited temperature range, chemical resistance, mechanical strength, stability etc. Advanced materials (notably multi-layer conductive ink arrays on insulating substrates) have the potential to dramatically change the technology''s scope of commercial use by enabling superior environmental resilience and performance. This applied research project will enable new materials and production technqiues to be developed for high performance RF & inductive antennae, targets & systems in hostile environments.

No abstract available.

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